In the wake of Wednesday’s shocking terror attack that left three people dead in London, new details are emerging regarding a suspect, as revealed in the above video from Fox News. On Thursday, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, but their involvement is still up for debate, since they offered no evidence. Now, CNN is reporting that authorities have zeroed in on 52-year-old Khalid Masood, a U.K. native, as the perpetrator of the attack.
Masood allegedly drove a car into a crowd of people that were walking on Westminster Bridge, killing two people in the process and later stabbing an officer who was protecting the U.K. Parliament. Police didn’t waste any time trying to find him, as they arrested eight possibly connected people in several raids that occurred in London and Birmingham on Wednesday.
But as U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May told the House of Commons on Thursday, Masood was not on the radar, as he was not being investigated by any British intelligence agencies. Now that Masood has been named as the attacker, details are surfacing regarding his status. May told Parliament that Masood was actually linked to violent extremist groups and seen as “peripheral figure.” NBC News discovered Masood has an extensive rap sheet but was not connected to any terror-related attacks:
Masood was known to police for a range of previous convictions, they said, including for assaults, possession of offensive weapons and public order offenses.
His first conviction was in 1983 for criminal damage, and his most recent was in December 2003 for possession of a knife. He was never convicted of any terror-related offenses.
Despite the arrests made during early Thursday morning raids, May told members of Parliament that she believes Masoon acted alone and that there are no further attacks planned in connection with this incident.